‘He doesn’t sleep’: How Chukwudi Iwuji channeled Henry IV to play ‘Guardians’ villain

If you’ve already seen “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” which opened in Philippine theaters last Wednesday, you must have realized by now how snug fit the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) is for the superhero trilogy’s darkest installment to date.

It’s an MCU tale that centers around and deeply resonates with Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), whose origins figure prominently—and brilliantly—in the series finale.

Before Rocket became a member of the Guardians, he was a former Avenger who’d been genetically engineered as a “raccoon-based bounty hunter, master of weapons and military tactics.” “Vol. 3” tells Rocket’s story, including “his background and where he’s going.”

For the uninitiated, the High Evolutionary is Rocket’s “creator.” He is a scientist from Counter-Earth specializing in creating hybrid creatures and seeking to forcibly enhance all living beings into a “special race.”

And that is how Rocket, along with the anthropomorphic otter Lylla (Linda Cardellini), Teefs the Walrus (Asim Chaudry) and Floor the Rabbit (Mikaela Hoover), came to be. But be “forewarned,” dear readers: Their story will tug at viewers’ heartstrings.

At the global press con that Inquirer Entertainment attended last weekend, Chukwudi explained how his sinister character struck him as a villain with a larger-than-life Shakespearean presence.

Asked to describe the creepy megalomaniac he created, Chukwudi said, “The High Evolutionary is a villain with a God complex … who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth”

But how did he get into the mindset of an unhinged genius who experiments on living creatures in the name of science?

“It’s a pretty dark stuff, that’s for sure” Chukwudi agreed. “Between James telling me [while we were rehearsing the opening dance sequence for ‘Peacemaker’] that he wanted me to play the role and doing the screen test for the High Evolutionary, I had a lot of downtime [to think about this].

“They were filming an episode for ‘Peacemaker’ that I wasn’t in. So, I was in Vancouver at the time. The first thing that’s written when you meet the High Evolutionary is him listening to space opera.

Clockwise, from top left: Teefs (voiced by Asim Choudhry), Lylla (Linda Cardellini), Rocket (Bradley
Cooper) and Floor (Mikaela Hoover)

Drawing inspiration

“So, I immediately knew that classical music was going to be a big part of this character. Because I still didn’t know where I was going to go with him, I thought I would just listen to a lot of my favorite arias and classical music and send a copy to the team—and one or two of them actually made it to the movie.

“In ‘finding’ this guy, I knew there was something Shakespearean about him. If he’s listening to opera and he’s this sort of mad scientist, I thought of someone who doesn’t sleep, someone obsessed with listening to this opera.

“He needs this music as he wanders through his castle at night. And I thought very deeply about ‘Henry IV.’ He has a great speech saying, ‘Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. How many thousands of even my poorest subjects are asleep right now? Oh, sleep, oh, lovely sleep…’

“It wasn’t specifically about how I would play the character as written. Because I knew that would be taken care of in the script … the motivations and the moments are impeccably written.

“So, for me, it was like, how do I bring this guy into the room? And who is this guy before he turns up on the set?”

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